YEAH!!!!! We are officially closed for the Christmas and New Year's holidays.  Boy, am I looking forward to the next couple of weeks.  Before all this puppet business stuff one of my favorite things to do is cook.  Love, love, love the process.  Used to be my dream to go to the CIA in NY to become a Master Chef.  Oh well, God had other plans and boy I'm I glad.  Really enjoy what I do now, but back to the reason for this post.....

This Christmas season I hope to get back to the joys of cooking.  Starting with lemon tarts, apple pie and homemade potato rolls.  Sounds like a weird combination I know, but that's what I signed up for at the potluck party.  Just discovered the potato roll recipe at Thanksgiving time and let me say for those who love nothing more than mashed potatoes, gravy and rolls...these are the way to go.

Next will be the first of two family Christmas parties...first one is a brunch.  Making breakfast pizza, blueberry and strawberry crepes, homemade crunchy waffles, breakfast tacos, etc

Then for the second family party: Texas Chili with all the fixins'

Soooooo....what do you plan on cooking for this holiday season.

Julie

Haha, this is so hilariously coincidental - just this week I made potato rolls (my first, and they are *so* good), along with key lime pie and lemon squares.

What do you have on breakfast pizza and tacos? Never had either.

As for me, 'holiday season' is rarely that. We're not religious (well, Jewish but not actively) and usually Christmas eve/day is spent bemoaning the lack of good things to watch on TV. Actually we've sort of ended up with a weird tradition of eating the usual Christmas fare - turkey, cranberry, etc - just for fun. This time of year is the busy-work season for my dad, so he's more often working throughout and only getting a short time off.

Technically, we're more into celebrating Chanukah, but as many of the family have died in recent years we've stopped making large meals and just ended up going out for dinner.

  Last night we had latkes (potato pancakes). Had some leftovers for breakfast... yum!

Interesting you would start this thread, I spent today making ten types of cookie dough, a variety of dips,got my turkey in a smoke brine to later smoke for my smoked turkey salad.I still have peanut butter candy,cheesecakes,five layer bars,pecan fingers,rice crispy treats,and brownies to make
I do mostly finger foods like ham wraps,dips,meatballs,sausage balls,Mexican dips and chips......and on and on.......and I make assorted cookies and candy for everyone to take home on Christmas eve.
Christmas day I just have a spiral ham,potato salad,sweet potato souffle,broccoli,and dutch apple pie.I say every year that I'm not going to do all that cooking next year LOL the things we do for those we Love.

"Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays".........everyone.

Ten types of cookie dough? ... Wow, that's a lot!

Ten types of cookie dough? ... Wow, that's a lot!

I make trays of cookies and treats for everyone to take home with them........... I make a variety of cookies using chocolates,butterscotch,peanut butter,fruit,nuts etc.as well as candy,tarts,and my baklava. It gets very expensive but I enjoy doing it.

Darn, I wish I was in your part of the world

... Ok, now I have to go eat lunch, you're making me hungry!

Haha, this is so hilariously coincidental - just this week I made potato rolls (my first, and they are *so* good), along with key lime pie and lemon squares.

What do you have on breakfast pizza and tacos? Never had either.

As for me, 'holiday season' is rarely that. We're not religious (well, Jewish but not actively) and usually Christmas eve/day is spent bemoaning the lack of good things to watch on TV. Actually we've sort of ended up with a weird tradition of eating the usual Christmas fare - turkey, cranberry, etc - just for fun. This time of year is the busy-work season for my dad, so he's more often working throughout and only getting a short time off.

Technically, we're more into celebrating Chanukah, but as many of the family have died in recent years we've stopped making large meals and just ended up going out for dinner.

  Last night we had latkes (potato pancakes). Had some leftovers for breakfast... yum!

Breakfast Pizza: First cook 1/2 lb ground pork sausage with 2 cloves minced garlic, and 1 sm onion.  Drain grease.  Add 2 tbls chopped parsley, 1/2 tbls fresh oregano, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp red peppper and 1/8 tsp. paprika.  Allow mixture to cool.  Add 4 oz goat cheese and 1/4 cup Romano cheese.

Microwave 2 med. potatoes until soft.  Cool completely.  You can leave the skins on if you like.  After potatoes are cool, slice.  This can be done the night before.

Lightly grease a 12" cake pan.  Press refrigerated crescent dough into pan forming a slight edge to hold in egg mixture.  (You can use homemade crescent dough, but this is faster)  Bake at 375 about 5 min. until lightly browned.

Cook 1 sm bell pepper (chopped), 1/2 med onion (chopped) along with any other toppings you might desire.

Layer about 1/2 sausage mixture then, sliced potatoes, bell pepper mixture and remaining sausage mixture on crescent crust.

In separate bowl, mix 5 lg eggs and 1/2 cup milk along with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour over layered pizza.  Bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 min. until eggs are firm.  Add grated goat cheese, ramano or whatever type cheese you like.  Melt in oven for about 5 min.  Let it sit for about 10 min. before you cut it.

Breakfast Tacos.  Scrambled eggs, refried beans, fried potatoes, grilled onions and peppers, chorizo (mexican sausage), cheese, salsa...pretty much anything you might want in a flour tortilla.

Love potato pancakes.  We used to celebrate Chanukah with another side of the family when we were kids.  The food was always amazing.

I do find it very interesting that so many of us puppet people also like to cook.

Billy, sounds like you've got us beat.  I'm still trying to decide if I want to make the yummy trays I used to every year.  It's a good 8-10 hrs of baking.  People really like homemade goodies.  I think it's because during the rest of the year most folks are so busy they don't get around to really enjoying their kitchens.

Julie

Thanks for that breakfast pizza recipe.......... I have to try that! Sounds deyummylicious!

Breakfast Pizza...

Ah... for some reason I imagined breakfast pizza/tacos to be a sweet thing...

Love potato pancakes.  We used to celebrate Chanukah with another side of the family when we were kids.  The food was always amazing.

Yeah, one of the few things I enjoy this time of year is the food! My dad also usually gets heaps of presents via work too, which means he comes home with plenty of wine, puddings/panattones, and food baskets. Most of which he can't eat, so the wealth is shared around. :P  Yum!